The ministry of Health and Welfare is planning to raise the percentage of full-time nurses to more than 50 percent of all nurses in the country to encourage an increase in salaries and a mentorship mechanism to keep more fresh recruits on the job, Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) yesterday said amid a nurse shortage.
Hsueh made the remarks at an international seminar titled “Professional Nursing Development in the Post-Pandemic Era: Preparing the Next Public Health Challenges” held by the Taiwan Nurses Association in Taipei yesterday.
There are more than 310,000 registered professional nurses in the nation, but only 188,879 are working, accounting for less than 60 percent, and some hospitals had temporarily closed beds due to a nurse shortage, ministry data showed.
Photo: CNA
The number of working nurses has consistently increased in the past six years from 169,454 people in 2018 to 187,519 last year, but the increase rates slightly dropped in the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry said.
When asked about a nursing union’s suggestion to raise nurses’ salaries, Hsueh said the issue can be discussed, but as Taiwan “is not a communist country,” and there are different types of healthcare facilities, the government cannot dictate a single salary.
If the average nurse’s salary is lower than in other countries, the government can introduce policies to encourage the industry to raise them, he said.
The ministry is planning to increase the number of full-time nurses over contract nurses starting from next year, with a target of more than 50 percent of nurses being full-timers, and as the average salary of public-sector nurses is higher, it would likely push the private sector to raise the salaries, he said.
During his speech, Hsueh first expressed gratitude to nurses for working on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic, and said the examination attendance rate and practice rate of registered nurses have slightly decreased in the past two years, and the Cabinet last month passed 12 short to long-term strategies to improve nurses’ working environment.
Nurses’ workload should be eased, allowing them to focus only on specific tasks, Hsueh said, adding that many new nurses often leave their jobs within three months as they do not receive enough support, so setting up a mentorship system — having experienced nurses coach and supervise novice nurses during clinical practice — could help more nurses adapt to their new job and remain in the workforce.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
SECURITY RISK: A university student sent a general alarm signal to THSRC’s control center on April 5, causing four operating trains to temporarily halt services The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday pledged to submit a report on ways to harden the communication security of railway systems after a university student hacked into Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) radio communications system and disrupted operations of four high-speed rail trains last month. Investigation by the police and prosecutors found that the university student and radio enthusiast, surnamed Lin (林), first used a software-defined radio (SDR) filter to analyze THSRC signals, downloaded the data to a computer, cracked the parameters and then programmed the codes into his radio devices. Lin then sent a general alarm signal to
RSS